MCT expanding services in 2015

Published
12:00 am CST, Tuesday, December 9, 2014

GRANITE CITY — Madison County Transit (MCT) wants to help more people get to work in the new year.

Starting Jan. 11, MCT will offer longer weekday hours and new Sunday service for some routes, just two of the changes coming for the system. S.J. Morrison, MCT director of marketing and planning, said the changes are a direct response to the desire for more services expressed by Madison County residents.

“We always provide service that is commensurate with demand,” Morrison said. “Where there is a need is where we look to see if service is feasible. Over the last few public meetings that we’ve had, one of the most common themes that we’re hearing from people is, ‘I can’t get to my job because there isn’t buses running at this time.’ There are a lot of entry-level positions — places like fast-food restaurants, department stores, grocery stores — and those places close at 9 and 10 at night. Our buses weren’t running that late. Folks didn’t have a way to get home, so they literally couldn’t work those shifts.”

Among the changes will be later weekday service in Alton, Wood River, Granite City, Madison, Edwardsville and Roxana; new Sunday service in the Alton, Collinsville, Edwardsville, Granite City, Roxana and Wood River areas; later weekend service in Alton, Wood River and Granite City on Saturdays and Sundays; minor route and schedule adjustments in Edwardsville, Glen Carbon and Collinsville; and two new #1X Riverbend Express timepoints in Granite City and Godfrey.

Although the new later services means buses will be running until close to 11 p.m. — the extended weekday service on the four routes affected will run until 10:48 p.m., according to MCT — Morrison said safety of individuals or bus drivers isn’t a concern.

“Not at all,” Morrison said. “We have a number of bus routes that run after 10 o’clock. It was time for us to take a look at our cross-county routes and to make sure that our service is consistent. We determined that this was a good opportunity for us to listen to the public, especially the working public, and see how we could help them get to work.”

On the contrary, the changes will actually improve safety in many ways, according to Morrison. As part of the improvements, MCT will transition to a bus-stop system for the first time in its history.

Previously, MCT ran on a flag-stop system, meaning individuals could flag the bus and it would stop at any intersection. That system sometimes caused buses to stop at busy intersections or on roads with high speed limits, leading to dangerous circumstances in some instances.

With designated bus stops, Morrison said the entire system will be safer for everyone involved. All routes, including the Alton shuttle routes, will adopt the bus-stop system on Jan. 11, Morrison said.

For more information on the upcoming changes, including routes and schedules, visit www.mct.org, call 618-797-INFO (4636) or e-mail info@mct.org.